


The Nightmare During Christmas

by Hierarchical



Category: Kingdom Hearts, The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Kairi and Lea are cute friends, Sea Salt Ice Cream (Kingdom Hearts)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-24 02:44:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14946110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hierarchical/pseuds/Hierarchical
Summary: Lea and Kairi go on their first mission: to stop the Heartless from ruining Christmas in Halloween Town.





	The Nightmare During Christmas

Lea’s and Kairi’s shared Gummi Ship zoomed through space, blasting multi-colored beams of light frenziedly. Narrowly, they avoided after asteroid, their hearts beating at a million miles a minute.

Lea learned two important things that day: one, Kairi cannot drive to save her life and two, if the Heartless wasn’t going to kill them during this trip, Kairi would. However, the discord that ensued on the outside of the ship was nothing in comparison to the cacophony that happened on the interior.

Endlessly, the two Keyblade wielders bickered, despite Kairi’s reckless driving, or more so because of it. Lea made his best attempts in order to persuade the other redhead to peacefully give him control of the ship so that they could at least have a semi-safe journey to _Halloween Town_ —emphasis on persuade; with how it went, he may as well have been talking to an enraged buffalo. Kairi, on the other hand, juggled her focus arguing and her inept driving. Her eagerness to learn how to fly a Gummi Ship properly and stubbornness overtook her judgment and she was absolutely certain that no matter the circumstances that she would continue to drive. They could both feel the rage building inside of her, which was why Lea cowered in the back of the ship and yelled, rather than actually approach her—ultimately avoiding the risk of a slap that would overturn both him and the Gummi Ship.

Through pure luck alone, eventually, they reached their destination—but, it was as about as safe as expected. The ship did several somersaults in the air before finally crash-landing on the ground, immensely-wrecked from the landing and deep space-excitement. The both of them were left at the helm of the ship, their hair disheveled and clothes wrinkled; Kairi had even lost one of her shoes in the turmoil.

But at least they still had their lives, and they were both thankful for that.

“Told you I could do it,” Kairi jeered, emerging out of the Gummi Ship, now wearing both shoes again.

Lea followed and rolled his eyes. “ _Barely_. Kairi, I thought I was going to _die_ a second time.”

“But I landed.”

“We _crashed_.”

Kairi pouted. “Fine… asshole,” she muttered under her breath. 

Lea waved dismissively and went to look at the ship, cupping his chin with his forefinger and thumb. Carefully, he examined it and let out a dejected sigh. “You crashed us pretty bad. We need new parts, but I still think we can make it to Twilight Town if we’re _extra_ careful.” He looked to Kairi, who subsequently rolled her eyes and folded her arms. “Hey, no atti—woah…”

“‘Woah’?”

Kairi looked down and her eyes widened as she finally saw it. She looked completely different! Her previously peach-colored skin was tinted a few shades lighter to the point where it resembled something more akin to a ghost-pale. Her pink zipper-lined top had been replaced with a hooded purple tunic and she was now wearing black and white striped leggings. Her shoes were exchanged for a pair of black combat boots and upon examining her hands, she noticed her fingernails slightly longer and painted black.

“So… this is this world’s power,” she said aloud.

Lea shrugged. “Eh, I think it suits you,” he said with a smirk.

“I don’t like it.”

“The look?”

“Yes.”

“Well, what about me?”

“What about you, what?”

“How do I look?”

The girl walked forward, carefully inspecting her companion down to the finest detail, pursing her lips as she gripped his familiar black jacket with her index finger and thumb, searching for any irregularities. Lea raised an eyebrow at this but ultimately let her continue. She then moved to his face and clapped her hands together.

“Aha! Found it!” she said.

“It?”

“You have a little skull riiight,” she stood on her tiptoes and carefully poked Lea’s right under Lea’s right eye with the nail of an index finger, “ _there_.”

“That’s it?”

Kairi nodded. “Yup.”

“Wow.”

“Upset?”

“Disappointed.”

“Hmm.” Kairi folded her arms. “You look cool either way, Axel,” she said with a smile.

“ _Lea_ ,” he corrected. “Get it memorized.”

Giving a smug smile, she shrugged. “ _Axel_.”

He sighed. “I hate you sometimes, kid,” he chuckled, smiling as well.

“But, you’re smiling,” Kairi said cheerfully. “Can’t hate me that much.”

Lea rolled her eyes, but his grin just grew wider. “Yeah, yeah. Still mad you crashed the ship though. Remind me to never let you drive.” He shuddered, gripping his elbows. “I don’t want to die for real…”

Kairi pouted. “Nuh-uh, I’m driving again.” She changed her voice to be deep like Lea’s. “‘Kairi turn left, dammit.’ ‘Kairi, slow down you’re going too fast.’”

“You were.”

“I’m learning!”

“Learn when we don’t have a mission to do.”

“Yeah, yeah. So, we’re here in Halloween Town,” Kairi noted. “Fun. We’re just here to clear out the Heartless?”

“Pretty much.” Lea folded his arms and looked around though. “It must suck though. The people here are just trying to have a nice Christmas. Now, there are a bunch of Heartless running around.”

Kairi sighed. “Shitty, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Lea agreed.

Kairi held out her hand and opened it into a palm, concentrating deeply on summoning her Keyblade, _Destiny’s Embrace_ , she focused her energy into manifesting the weapon, and soon enough, it came to her in a flash of light. Hastily, she grabbed it and clutched the blade tightly, stabbing the ground with it. “Let’s go then.”

Lea snapped his fingers and his Keyblade appeared, accompanied by a burst of flame upon near-instantaneous summoning. Her had always been far better at this than Kairi had. He gave a curt nod and clutched the blade tightly. “One thing first.”

“What?” the girl asked curiously.

“I’m leading.”

“Huh? Why?”

“‘Cause,” he started, “you’d just charge head first at the Heartless. They aren’t as easy to beat as you think. They’re weak, especially when you have a Keyblade—”

“So why—?”

“‘Cause,” Lea continued, “that’s exactly why. You’ll overestimate your abilities and it’ll lead you to do something rash. Heartless are wild things, and that’s exactly why. You see, without a heart, they’re mindless creatures, and that’s why they’re dangerous.” Leaning over, Lea tapped the blunt part of his Keyblade against Kairi’s head twice. “Got it memorized?”

“Yeah I… I think I get it now,” Kairi said, raising an index finger against her chin and tapping it against it a few times. “But, I’m a _Princess of Heart_ , Axel—”

“Lea.”

“ _Axel_. It’ll be fine. Worse comes to worst, I can just… hug them…”

“Hugging _Heartless_?”

“Yeah, it’s worked before. I do it like this.” Kairi took a step forward and enveloped Lea in her arms, squeezing with the strength of an octopus constricting its prey. It was a nightmare for Lea, who on her receiving end, could feel Kairi crushing his ribs to dust. He was right: if the Heartless didn’t kill him, Kairi would.

“Too… tight…” he wheezed.

Content, Kairi finally released him. “I’m sure I proved my point,” she said snidely, subsequently sticking his tongue out at him.

“Why, you little—!”

Lea’s train of thought halted once he saw multiple purplish-black portals form, surrounding him and Kairi, and out of them, poured Heartless of all varieties—Shadows, Soldiers, and even one Darkball and Wight Knight. The two of them took a fighting stance, Lea holding his Keyblade with a reverse grip whilst Kairi clutched hers in both hands, lowering it to the ground.

“Sheesh,” Lea started, “that one gives me the creeps.” He nodded to the Darkball.

“They aren’t so bad,” Kairi said confidently, wearing a smirk of pure determination. Perhaps she was a bit too ready for this. “Want me to take that one?”

“Preferably.”

Kairi nodded and Lea made subtle movements—small, careful steps—as he moved behind Kairi. He kept his eyes fixed on the Soldiers, watching—waiting for a move idiosyncratic of barbaric Heartless, however, there was none. Lea thought it strange, these Heartless were acting more like Nobodies. He tapped Kairi on the waist with the key-like part of his Keyblade, trying to get her attention.

“Kid,” he said.

“Don’t call me that.”

“I always call you kid—you know what, that doesn’t matter. You’ve noticed?”

“That these Heartless aren’t acting like how you or Yen Sid said they normally do?”

“Yeah.”

“What does that mean?”

“Not a clue.”

Kairi shrugged. “Guess that gives me first move then. Time for the best mage there ever was to kick ass.” The girl held her Keyblade towards the Darkball with her right hand, pointing it right at its left eye. _Destiny’s Embrace_ ’s tip glowed a radiant yellow, energy forming at the tip until she blasted off a _Thundaga_ spell, instantly reducing the Heartless to a black mist. “Well, that was easy. Guess I _am_ the best mage there ever was.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“That’s your queue, Lea.”

“Hey, look at you, you got it right for once.”

“Shut it and fight.”

“Gladly.”

Lea rushed towards the enemies at remarkable speed, hacking and slashing viciously, murdering Heartless after Heartless with ease. It wasn’t like he hadn’t done it before. He understood how these things worked—how they functioned from his time in Organization XIII—as Axel. Those were days far-gone, but the knowledge was eternal, and it showed. Meanwhile, Kairi covered him, lighting up Heartless with spell after spell—burning, freezing, shocking—killing the Heartless mercilessly and clearly enjoying this more than any girl her age should. They were encompassed by a black-mist which signaled their numerous victories, and when it finally dispersed, Lea and Kairi high-fived.

“Good work, kid,” Lea cheered.

“I thought I told you not to call me ‘kid’, _Axel_.”

The older of the two redheads dismissed his Keyblade and mockingly threw his hands up. “Oh, woe is me, a kid’s called me Axel, how will I deal.”

Kairi blew a raspberry and then said, imitating his voice, “Uh, nuh-uh, uh, it’s not Axel, it’s _Lea_ , get it memorized.”

Lea rolled his eyes. “Whatever. We have more Heartless to kill anyways.”

Kairi’s eyes widened. “Wait, wait, you mean that wasn’t it?”

“Did you expect that to be it?” Lea asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, kinda, but,” she grinned widely, revealing a pair of pointed canines that Lea hadn’t noticed before that resembled a pair of vampiric fangs, “this is _way_ better. I get more combat training this way, and beating the stuffing out of Heartless is kind of fun.”

Lea chuckled. “ _Fun_?! I wouldn’t expect to hear that from _you_ , princess. Who woulda thought?”

“Hmph!” Kairi pouted and stomped her foot against the ground. “Why is it a big deal if I like killing—” She stopped herself, closing her eyes and biting her tongue between her incisors, which made Lea’s sniggers grow more akin to laughs. Kairi cleared her throat and tried again. “Why is it a big deal if I like _defeating_ Heartless?! I’d just be doing my job as a Princess of Heart.”

That brought a tear to Lea’s eye—not out of pride, but from cackling. “Oh, no, there’s nothing wrong with it,” with an index finger, he wipes his eye, still wearing that sly smile of his, “it’s just funny is all. That’s the last thing I’d expect to hear coming out of your mouth.”

“Sigh.”

“Who says ‘sigh’ out loud like that?”

“I do. Come on, fire-guy. We have Heartless to mur— _defeat_!”

Lea smirked and nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I’m coming.” He took one last glance at his surroundings and shuddered, beginning to walk along the pathway. “The gravestones give me the creeps anyways.”

Kairi followed. “Hey, wait up!”

The duo followed the pathway, made of stone and illuminated by dull, flickering orange lights. They understood that this was called _Halloween Town_ for a reason, but that wasn’t to say it didn’t manage to weird out Lea in particular, Kairi somehow managed to keep a brave face. The further they went, the more the darkness obfuscated their vision. It was like the place was toying with them… Lea was sure to keep an armed wrapped around Kairi, much to her displeasure, of course, just in case any Heartless attacked.

Finally, they had retreated past the area of darkness, and it seemed as if they were walking along a brick bridge this entire time. It seemed completely stable, so Lea released Kairi from his grasp, allowing the girl to traverse the rest of the path without his aid.

“Uh, why did you do that?” Kairi asked.

“I didn’t want you to get hurt,” Lea answered. “You know how the Heartless prefer the darkness? It’s like that. Those things can jump out at any moment.”

“Thanks,” Kairi said, “but, I have to learn to take care of myself… You’ve seen that I’m capable in a fight already—heartless or human.”

Lea winced at the mention of human. Dueling with her had given him his fair share of cuts, scars, and bruises—one accident left him with a small curved scar above navel; one he wouldn’t soon forget. “Yeah… I… I know, just wanna be safe.”

“Well, thanks. I appreciate that,” Kairi said with a smile. “Woah…”

They had arrived in _Halloween Town_ ’s town square. The place still retained the dreary look it always had, but the bright orange lights helped to compliment all the dark greys and dusty browns. This was their version of Christmas, that much was clear.

“What are you ‘woah’ing at?” Lea asked. 

“This place, dummy,” Kairi stated. “I like the orange lights, but look at that.” Kairi pointed to the sky, unable to repress a large grin and clearly jovial eyes. There, there were eight skeletal reindeer pulling a sled with a man in it that Lea instantly recognized as Jack Skellington from his time as Axel. “Look, look, they have a real Santa! A real Santa, Lea!”

Lea laughed. “Yeah, they do. The skelly-man’s pretty devoted, but…” he paused, “where are the _Heartless_. That’s what I wanna know.”

Kairi simply shrugged in response. 

Allowing her to have the moment, Lea turned around to watch Kairi’s back, letting her watch Jack fly past them with wonder in her eyes. He readied his Keyblade, tapping it at the ground idly, waiting for the portals to open.

_They were supposed to summon in the square._

And then, when was finally out of view, they formed, pouring out Soldiers.

_Bullseye._

“Kairi!” Lea called out, holding his Keyblade in front of him.

“Time to kick ass!” she cheered, pumping a fist into the air. 

“Careful now,” Lea warned. “Just like last time, okay?”

“Got it.”

They took the same formation as the last battle with Lea and Kairi backing each other. Even though there were a greater number of Heartless, Lea suspected that the battle would’ve been easier than the last. Except, this time, these Heartless acted more like Heartless. Recklessly, they rushed into battle with no regard for their non-existence, and together, the duo dispelled them one at a time, with both blade and magic from both parties. Soon, they had gotten rid of the Heartless, but even then, they were both deathly-tired. 

Panting, Kairi smiled. “Good work, Axel…”

Not even bothering to correct her for the second time, Lea nodded. “Yeah, you too.”

“Is… is that all…?”

“Yeah, it would… it would seem so…” Lea thrust his Keyblade downward, using it as a cane as he surveyed the area for any more Heartless, but it didn’t seem like they were any left. It was a smaller infestation than he had initially thought but that was a blessing. Now, he could get back to Christmas. “Nope… no more Heartless.”

“Oh. Good. Good.” Kairi did the same. “Do you think the mayor’s coming to thank us?”

“Uh…” Lea looked around and shook his head. “Nah… I don’t think people are going to come out anytime soon.”

“Oh…” Kairi frowned.

“Hey, kid. What’s wrong?”

Kairi shook her head. “It’s silly…”

“Tell me anyways.”

“Well,” Kairi started, “it’s just… I’ve missed Christmas. Up until recently, I’ve always gotten to spend Christmas with Sora and Riku, and it’s been a while so… I thought this year would be the year. But, we had to be sent out on this shitty mission. Well, it’s not… shitty… I guess. I just wanted a ‘thank you’ for all of this. It probably doesn’t sound like something a… Princess of Heart would say, but… at the end of the day… I guess I’m just a normal girl after all.”

Kairi’s words resonated with Lea. A ‘normal girl’. For a while, he had forgotten what it was like to be normal; to have emotions. Axel had no emotions, only things he thought but never were. Lea was different. Carefully, he reached forward and ruffled Kairi’s hair, offering a small smile. “Don’t be like that, kid,” he said. “You realized the best mage there ever was just saved Christmas for the people of Halloween Town. Got it memorized? That’s… a marvelous thing in itself. You don’t need any ‘thank you’s or anything like that. Just keep doing what you feel is right in your heart and get there, because even if you… if you have friends…” Lea’s voice was a little quieter as he repeated himself, “Even… if you have friends you can always lean on, sometimes you just gotta… stand on your own… and do what you know is right… Not like your friends would have conflicting opinions for this one.” Lea chuckled. “Pretty sure Sora and Riku wanted to get you out of their hair.”

Playfully, she punched him in the arm. “Asshole,” she said with a slight chuckle. “That’s grim for Christmas. You better be buying me ice cream when we get to Twilight Town.”

“Of course,” Lea said. “You’re getting sea salt though. No question about it.”

“Aw, but I want mint,” Kairi whined.

“Nah.”

“Come on!”

“Sea salt is the best flavor. Get it memorized.”

Kairi rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

“Hey.”

“Hmm?”

“Still got that notebook you carry around?”

“Uh, well, my clothes changed but,” Kairi reached around, and slipped her hand into one of the many pockets in her tunic, “it should be… ah!” She quickly grabbed the item and pulled it out. In her hand, was a small, ocean-blue notebook. “Here. Why?”

“Do you carry around a pen too?”

“Yeah just, let me… feel around for it…” Kairi slipped her hand into two other pockets but ultimately couldn’t find anything. Instead, she tried a pocket on the waistline of her tunic—an awkward position for a pocket, but ultimately it contained what she needed. “It’s here.”

“You don’t have any super secret girly-stuff in there, do ya?”

“What?! O-Of course not.” Lea raised an eyebrow and Kairi sighed, looking off to the side. “Not for your eyes anyways,” she grumbled.

“I just want a page and the pen.”

“Okay, I can do that.” Kairi flipped through the notebook, flicking past many pages which were written on and ripped out an empty one. “Here.” Lea took the page from her and Kairi slipped the notebook back into her tunic. “Pen too.”

Lea subsequently grabbed that from her as well. “Thanks.” Resting the note in the palm of his hand, he began writing.

“What are you doing Kairi asked…”

“You’ll see in just a second… and… done!” Lea held up the note to the redheaded girl. It read: 

_Kairi (the best mage there ever was) and Lea saved Christmas for Halloween Town!_

“You like?” Lea asked. “Now, next time we come back, people will come in numbers offering cheers in your name, Kairi. Think of it to my Christmas present to you. Besides the ice cream, anyways.”

“Ice cream is a Christmas present?” Kairi chuckled. 

“Hey, hey, I’m short on cash! Cut me some slack!” Lea said. “Ice cream in Twilight Town isn’t exactly what I’d call cheap.”

Kairi laughed. “It’s fine, really. I appreciate the gesture, Lea. It doesn’t matter if you can or can’t give. I’m happy either way, but… I guess I’m spending my Christmas with you.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Lea asked, grabbing a nearby moderately-sized rock and setting the note underneath it.

“No,” Kairi answered. “Just… a strange turn of events is all… Just a little while ago we were on opposite sides, and look at us now.”

“The best of buddies. Right, kid?”

“If you keep calling that,” Kairi said dryly with a little smirk. “Suuure.”

“Now, come on.” Lea pat Kairi on the back, beginning to lead her back to the Gummi Ship. “I think we can get back in time to watch the sunset.”

“You want to watch the sunset?”

“Yeah… I did it last year.” Lea answered. “Hey, Kairi.”

“Hmm?”

“Betcha don’t know why the sun sets red.”

“Hmm.” Kairi tapped a finger against her chin, the two of them beginning to enter the darker part of the pathway, only, this time she clutched Lea’s arm. “I don’t actually. Tell me, Lea: why _does_ the sun set red?”

“Well, you see… light is actually made up of lots of colors, and out of all those colors, red is the one that travels the farthest.”

“Hmm, that’s really interesting,” Kairi said. “Where did you learn that, know-it-all?”

“Know-it-all?” Lea laughed a bit at that. Sweet nostalgia filled his mind so, he couldn’t help but smile. “I read a lot of books.”

“ _You_ , _read_! I don’t believe it for a second!”

“Hey, it’s true!”

Emerging from the darkness of the path, Kairi looked to her companion, who she finally released from her grasp. But she noticed something strange.

“Lea… are you… crying?”

Her words had surprised him. He hadn’t expected that he was crying, but… that would have explained the mild wetness he had felt trickling down his cheeks earlier. He raised a finger to the skull below his eye and he felt a slight dampness through the fabric of his glove. He was crying.

“Guess I am,” Lea answered. “Perceptive.”

“What’s wrong?” a concerned Kairi asked.

Lea just shook his head. “Nothing. I just want to go watch the sunset and eat sea salt ice cream on Christmas again.”

“Ah…” Kairi understood the gist of what was going on and decided not to press any further, instead, she simply nodded in response. “Alright, but I’m driving, Axel.”

“ _Lea_ , and no you’re not.”

“Of course I am,” she reaffirmed, grabbing Axel by the wrist and pulling him along now that their red Gummi Ship was in view. “Drive and you don’t get any ice cream—mostly ‘cause I’m not sure if we’ll live to get any. Come on, kid. My turn.”

“Okay, fine, _fine_. I guess you can drive this _one_ time.”

“Thanks. Anyways, here’s to hoping it actually _works_.”

“Yeah, yeah.” The redhead waved dismissively to her companion and climbed into the Gummi Ship. “Come on.”

“Okay, I’m coming, I’m coming!” 

Lea stared at the Gummi Ship for a few seconds. It was bent in all the wrong ways, the red coloration was fading and some of the lights were broken. But it should’ve been okay.

Kairi peeked her head out of the doorway. “Oh, Lea, one last thing.”

“Hmm? What’s that?” he asked.

“Merry Christmas, Lea,” she said with a smile.

He chuckled. “Merry Christmas, Kairi.”

Lea climbed into the ship and sat at the helm, where he could control the ship, and Kairi stood over him, watching fully with the intent to learn… and maybe nag Lea some along the way. She did, of course, but at the very least the trip to Twilight Town was safe… and enjoyable for both parties at the time.

After eating sea salt ice cream and watching the sunset on the clocktower, they had both agreed it was one of the best Christmases they had ever had.

**Author's Note:**

> AN: This is actually my first KH fic, like, that I've ever written. So feedback is always appreciated!


End file.
